Cable cutting and swaging tool



April 1956 F. L. M GARY ETAL 2,742,598

CABLE CUTTING AND SWAGING TOOL Filed Nov. 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTORS BY WWW ATTORNEY April 24, 1956 MCGARY ETAL CABLE CUTTING ANDSWAGING TOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 27, 1951 INVENTOR5 fiwwzlsZ./%c6k7' L'MrlesZZ/Zckfg. BY J? MM M ATTORNEY April 24, 1956 E MCGARYETAL 2,742,698

CABLE CUTTING AND SWAGING TOOL Filed Nov. 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS ATTORNEY V of the character described with improved means'Francis McGary and Gharles Our invention relates toa cable cutting andswaging tool here shown as in the form commonly known as pliers, and hisan object of the same to providev a tool of this character that-isdesigned particularly-[for use in airplane service and productionlines,-though"it-is highly useful also in any other field wherein'wireor wire'ca'ble is used'or manipulated, such as electricalwork','telephone and telegraph installation and'service, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool of the characterdescribed, with: improved means for cutting off wires and wirecables.

Another object of the invention is to p rovide a to'ol ing a cable intoposition to be severed. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide pliers of improved shape,such that'they can be inserted among wires or other objects with aminimum of 'resistanc'e to such insertion. I II Another object is toprovide a tool that will cut off a cable consisting {of numerous wirestwisted together, without crushing the cable, and in such manner as toleave the cut ends twisted together-as a round .cable.

Referring to the drawings, which are madeafpart' of this application andin which similar parts are indicated by similar reference characters: 1

..Fig. 1 is a view of a tool of the'iinventi'on above referred to,showing one face thereofif Fig. 2; a similar view showingthe oppo'siteface of thetool. y

Fig. 3, a view showing one' edge face of the; tool,

Fig. 4, a view showing the upper end of the tool, with the .jaws in openand in partially closed-positions, respectively.v I 1 Fig. 5, an endview of the tool in opehposition, with parts omitted, i

Fig. 6, a view of the inner face of one of the two lever members of thetool,

Fig. 7, a like view of the other lever member, I Fig. 8, a face view ofanother format the'invention,

I Fig. 9, a similar view of the opposite face of said form, V

Fig. 10, a view showing one edge face of the same,

Fig. 11, a side view; of the same with itsijaws open,

Fig. 12, a view showing the opposite face of the tool, with its jawsopen, and l I s Fig. 13, a view like Fig. 11, but with the tool nearlyclosed. I

In the drawings, reference characters and 11- indicate respectively thetwo crossing lever members of the tool which are pivotally connected bya bolt 12. The lever members 10 and 11 have opposed inner facesabove andbelow the pivot as shown at x, x in Fig. 4 on ,member 11 and at y, y'insaid figureon member 10, these faces refining the median plane or centerline of the tool 2,742,693 Patented Api 24, 195 6 ice oppositely placedapproximately semi-circular slots 5 and 16 that serve to swage wires tostraighten them.

These slots may beof various sizes to act on wires differing indiameter. t 7 I Therbody portion or head of each member 110 and 11 ofthe set nearest the handle end of said members, or

that portion lying between the unlettered parallel cross' 1 linesrespectively above and below the pivot of the tool f members as shown inFig. 2, where the distance b .is the length ofsaid body-portion abovethe axis of members 10 and"11 while distancec is the length of the bodyportionbelow the axis, as shown in said figures. If a'line bedrawnhorizontally across Fig. l or Figq2midway' between said parallel lines,the intersection of'said line 3 with "the vertical line is 'the centerof the body portion or head of eachof members 10 and 11.

As clearly shown in the drawings, the body of the tool is ovate, thetool being tapered or stream-lined at its jaw end from the widest partof its body portion at line d--d in Fig."2"to a very small width nearthe extremity of the jaws,v so that it can readily be inserted amongtangled wires or other obstacles. The handles may diverge somewhatbeyond the slots 16"for better fitting in the usershand. The levermember 11 has 'a slot 18' that extendsinwardly and slightly upward fromthe outer edge of its body portion to a'point approximately as far fromthe center line a-Jz of the tool as is the axis of bolt 12, providing aninclining shear edge at 19 iudined-slightly upward toward the jaw end ofmember 11 in the drawings.

The lever member 10 has an inclined slotat 20, extending inwardly anddownwardly from a point near the upper endof its body portion, or nearthe base of its tapered jaw 14, toward the handle end ofsaid member atline a-a in Figs. 1 and 2, which faces meet when the tool isclosed, asin Figs. 1 and 2. The faces at x and ,y are corrugated transversely ofthe tool to form gripping faces adjacent the outer endsof the jaws 14,as is comnearly to line d fd in Fig. 1 and past vertical center line a-ain said figure or 'very nearly to the level of bolt 12 in Fig.1,saidslot providing a shear edge at 21. The

shape of the bodyportion of members 10 and 11 and the;

relation of the slots 18 and 20 is such that when the tool.isjopenedto-the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 4

(or nearly to fully open position), the slots 18 and 20 willregister,the shear edges 19 and 21 will be parallel and separated, and the'lip'22and adjacent jaw 14 will project laterally beyond the normal outline ofthe tool so as to hook over an adjacent cable that is to be cut andguide it toward the center line aa of the tool, which tool for the mosteffective action is pulled or drawn toward the user, but whether drawntoward or moved away from the user it is urged in a direction to movethe closed ends of the shear slots toward such a cable, i. e., to theright in Fig. 4, and is then closed. As the tool approaches closedposition, the parts again assume the normal streamlined position ofFigs. 1 and 2. The shape of slot Zii is such that the under face of lip22 is a continuation of the shear'edge 19 of slot 18 in the position ofFig. 4 to facilitate entry of the cable into the slots. The wall of theslot adjacent edge 19.,is beveled, and the wall of the slot adjacentedge 21 is still more strongly beveled to increase their ,cuttingaction.

The pivot of the lever members is displaced laterally away from themedian plane of the tool as indicated by linen-a toward that edge of thetool at which the slots open out of the body portion of the same (theleft hand side in. Fig. 1), said plane being determined by the faces atx, qt andjy, y, and said pivot isalso displaced longitudin'ally of thetool toward the jaw end of the same, as

' shown by the relative. lengths of lines b andc in Fig.2,

which indicate the position of said pivotrelatively to;

upper and lower ends of the body portion of each of the lever membersand 11.

The efiect of the lateral displacement is to cause the adjacent jaw toswing laterally away from the normal outline of the closed tool as thetool is opened,.i. extoward the position iudicated in solid lines inFig. 4, and cause the upper end of lever member 11 to swing into thefull-line work-guiding position of ,Fig. 4 as the tool is opened and toreturnto normal stream-lined position when the tool is closed. Theelfect of locating the axis of the jawsnear an end of the tool is,first, to cause every point on the .cutting edges to travel in an :areabout the 1ongitudinally otfset pivot of the lever members in theclosing movement of the tool, thereby causing each shear edge to twistor wind the wires of arable about the axis of the .cable as it is beingsevered, leaving'the cut ends smooth and avoiding crushing of the cable;second, to increase the efiiciency of theltool by decreasing the lengthof the weight arm of each lever to a minimum by locating the shear edgesclose to their fulcrum (the jaw pivot of ,said levers) relatively totheir power arms; and, third, to render the cutter more effective byreason of the draw cut had because of the movement of the translation ofsaid edges acrossthe work, in addition to their circumferential movementabout the work. The double draw action of .the cutting edges (i. e., thewiping action of each shear edge relatively to the other) enhances thecutting action of the jaws, so that the cutter will sever cables and thesuch as disclosed in the patent to Hardy et al., No.

777,412, December 13, 1904, and having cutting edges at the oppositeside from the handles and approximately in line with said handles, sopositioned that the shear edges lie in the same plane at opposite sidesof the work and meet along their entire length as the work is severed.

The position of the shear-edged slots is such that they terminate nearthe pivot 12, but the slots are set toward the forward end of the toolso as to lie between the said forward end and a line drawn transverselyof ,the tool through the axis at the center of the pivot. The shearedgesterminate as close to the pivot as is possible while leaving thenecessary space for the work to be received in the slots and thus thelength of the weight arm of each lever member, is reduced to a minimumto enhance the cutting efficiency of the tool, while the location of thepivot at one side of the median plane of the too] and the location ofthe shear edges in oifsetrelation to the pivot lengthwise of the toolcause the shear edges at every point to move in an are about the axis ofthe tool .to give them a wiping ordrawaction with respect to the workand to the other shear edge, thus both increasiug the elliciency of thecutter in severing the work and also rotating or twisting the individualwires about the axis of a cable to cause the end to he smoothly rounded.It should be noted in Fig. 4 that when the jaws are in the solidlineposition, the work (indicated as a Wire w) can encounter the lip 22 .at.a point considerably to the right of any other part of the tool, and isthen guided toward the closed end of each slot 19 and 20. Then as thetool is being closed, the slots move out of registry as shown by thedotted line position of slot 20. Now the work is trapped at the closedends of the slotsand usually it is so trapped beyond possibility ofescape before any cutting action takes place, depending somewhat on thediameter and cross-sectional shape of the work. The-cutting edges, ofcourse, move in parallel'planes immediately adjacent to each other. 7

As will be seen in Fig.4, the jaw 14 of lever member lllextends faroutward beyond the parts of levermember 11 lying immediately below itwhen the tool is held upright in fully-open, work-receivingposition,this being due to the relation of the slots with reference to the shapeof the body portions of the lever members and to the location of thepivot connecting said body parts so that the tool can readily be hookedover a wire that is to be cut, which is a matter of great convenience toa telephone lineman, a fire fighter dealing with burning aircraft, etc.Desirably, as best shown in Figs. ll and 12, the ,tool may be hung upon.a wire located deep in the slots near their closed end, and, if a toolbe so suspended and thenp artly closed, the wire will be trapped asindi- Cated a w in iEiz. 4- This trapping feature is of importance inthe ordinary use of the tool since the wire or cable or the like is thusprevented from escaping out of the toolby accident as the tool is beingclosed, or before closing it.

It should be noted that the lip 22 extends far out from one side of thetool in its open position by reason of the location of the pivot 12 inlaterally offset relation to he .medianline of the tool. which enablesthis part of the tool to .move far out from its normal position, and toreturn ,to normal position when the tool is closed.

The form :above described is the preferred form, and

the toolshown in Figs. 8-1?! is generally similar to that hownin'Figs..1-7,'but1he shape of the teeth 30 on jaws 14, :14 differs .slightly:andthe :median plane of the tool (or the medianline, of Figs. 8 and 9) isdefined by the meetingline of Contact of the cutting edges 31, 32.

, As in the .form first described, the slots 33, 34 are open at the sameside of the tool and have shear edges 35,,36 but :shear. edge.;35 iscrossed at right angles by narrow grooves 37 dividing that ,part of thejaw into separate teeth somewhat .like ;saw teeth, for better cuttingaction. The ;slot 34 in this .form of the invention is located in :levermember 10' in slightly inclined position, slantingdownward :toward thehandle end of the tooland terminating at such a point that its shearedge .35 llies lower Ron the tool than the pivot, the closed inner end0f1the slot 33 lying below the bolt 12' and close to it. Theslot 3311's,so located in its lever member 11' as to register twith;s1ot;34 'whenthe .toolis open (Figs. 11 and 1-2), :the :sheartedge .35 being at theopposite side of a cable-or wire ilying :in said slots, and said edgesmoving in a plane close to that of edge 36.

In .both of rillustrated forms of the invention, the two work-receivingslots open at the same side of the tool and .extend inward in .nonradialdirection with re spect to the pivot of the tool, i. e., toward a pointspaced from said pivot. Thus, .inthe form of Figs. 1-7, the slots 18 and20 .are located in the jaw end of the respective lever membersbeyond'thebolt 12, or, otherwise expressed, the pivot is oltset towardthe handle end with respect to the slots.

In the second form of the invention, a similar double drawaction :takesplace as in the tool of Figs. 1-7, the slots 33 and 34 being locatedbetween the pivot and the handle endo'f the tool:(or .where the pivot isoffset toward the .jaw :endof tthe tool). Here the slots register whenin an open position of the tool, and every point on each shear edgenwipes past the opposed shear member, not moving -Wllh a mere movementof rotation or ordinary shear .action past points on the opposed shearmember or past points on the work, but exhibiting also a movement oftranslation across the work, Le, a so-called draw cutting action, oneresult of which is a smooth tightlywrapped end on a cut-off cableinstead or a crushed flattened end.

Thisapplication is a'continuation-in-part of our appli cations "Nos.606,390, filed July 1, 1945; and 772,682, filed September 6, 1947 (bothnow abandoned).

As a matter of convenience, the jaw end of the tool is referred toherein as the upper end, while the handle end is referred to as thelower end, in correspondence with the showing in the drawings. The jawend may also be referred to as the forward end because of the usual Itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes may bemade in the devices herein disclosed, and I that the improvementsdisclosed can be embodied in other 1 tools and devices, all withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention; and, therefore, we do notlimit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings and described in thespecification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A plier type tool having crossed lever members, each having a handleat one end and a head at the other, a pivot connecting said members, ashear-edged slot in each head, said slots each extending inward from thesame side of the tool and having cutting edges in non-radial relation tothe pivot, said slots being so located in their respective heads as toregister when said lever members are in substantially the maximum openposition of the tool, the forward edge of one of said slots being,concavely curved from its inner to its outer end whereby said edge incooperation with one of the edges of the complementary slot traps thework at the start of the closing movement of the tool.

2. A device as in claim 1, wherein said slots are oppositely inclinedwith reference to the length of the tool.

3. A device as in claim 1, wherein said slots are located between theforward end of the tool and said pivot.

4. A device as in claim 1, wherein one of said slots is inclined fromits open end toward the handle end of its lever member and the otherslot is inclined from its open end toward the head end of its levermember.

5. A device as in claim 1 with an overhang on one of said heads forguiding the work into the registering slots, which overhang returns tonormal position behind the head end of the other lever member when thetool is closed. Y

6. A device as in claim 1, wherein the slots are located between therearward end of said tool and said pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS529,488

